“So let me get this straight, you want me to kill your aroma-fairy… what?” Kylar asked in a disgruntled tone. He was standing awkwardly in front of a desk, peering intently at a piece of paper he held in his right hand. The handwriting looked almost like a piece of art, with all the letters curling into the next letter in a fashion that made it almost impossible for a normal person to read.

The person behind the desk sighed in an over dramatic way before looking up from his paperwork. His noise went slightly higher than most people in a way that confused Kylar, until he realised the pretentious fool was attempting to look down his noise at someone standing over him. It would have been quite amusing if Kylar wasn't already irritated at the way this job was turning out.

“Aroma therapist” The man said in the most condensing voice that Kylar had heard all month, which was saying something. “A therapist that tries to help people by using scents. And we don’t want you to kill him, just run him out of town.”

“Right… and you want this because his scents are sour?” Kylar asked sarcastically. He was beginning to like this man less and less; however he was the mayor of this city and was the only chance Kylar had at getting a pay check this week. After all, an out of work mercenary couldn’t choose to be picky.

“His scents are quite pleasant actually. It’s the after effects that are worrisome. His most recent clients have started suffering from delusions, and as amusing as it was to watch my brother-in-law trying to walk up a wall, the effects on the working force is highly detrimental.”

“This hardly seems like a job for a mercenary. Why don’t you just send in the Guards?”

“The aroma therapist is a cat, and if the guards are seem arresting one more of his kind it could cause some unrest. Besides, this seems like the perfect job for your kind of mercenary.” His eyes looked Kylar up and down, making it obviously that he did not think much of the mercenary standing in front of him. Kylar clenched his free left hand so tight that his nails bit into his palm. He wanted to hit this overdressed fool in the face, however justified his comments where. A recent string of bad luck had left Kylar with just a basic set of leather armour, a battered wooden shield and a short sword to his name, and he looked like he’d been sleeping in the gutters.

Kylar matched eyes with the mayor, trying to get across all the hatred he felt, but the mayor just smiled an arrogant little smile. Kylar was tempted to walk out right then and there, however he needed his job, so Kylar gritted his teeth and said “Fine, I’ll take it.” Without another word, he turned around and walked out the door.

“Oh, just one last thing.” The mayor got up from his desk and walked over to the door. “This cat is meant to have some abilities… outside the norm.”

“What abilities?” Kylar asks angrily, however the mayor just smiles and slams the door in his face. Kylar curses under his breath and walks away, muttering to himself as he attempts to decipher the over embellished handwriting to get the directions to his next job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Wolf, if you have any problems with this intro and fighting in a shop of yours, just shoot me a PM and I will change it.

_________________Kylar, The Mercenary"Your mother was a hamster; and your Father smelt of Elderberries! Now, go away before I am forced to taunt you a second time!

Thanks for the therapy. An intoxicating voice, to be sure - almost as intoxicating as the body of the woman it belonged to - and that was somewhat odd, given that he was a Kiltharr. It wasn't often he had respectable clients, but he had to assume it meant that his skills were so advanced that people simply had to look past his race. Or perhaps this city was becoming less racist, but - that one was unlikely, from his experience. It did say something that even with one arm permanently bound in cloth, his aromatherapy was clearly the best this city had ever seen. And my, how they had all needed to relax when he got here! So many people had been eager to use his services that he had been able to rent a shop and become rather profitable for a time. Business was starting to slow finally, so it was getting to be time for the nomadic Kiltharr to move on. He had put off finding people who could help deal with his arm for long enough. He shifted his gaze back to his patron, left hand accepting the offered coins before he walked her to the door with a smile and a word of thanks. He also made sure to watch her as she left, not because he didn't trust her but because she had an extremely nice rear.

Even as he watched her leave, though, his mind came back to his arm. He was really at a loss for what to do with it - the only person he knew of that might be able to help was that wizard who had been at the top of the tower with him. Drakey, or something like that. And that particular wizard was rather dead, from what he could gather. So who was he supposed to find to deal with this? He couldn't exactly go up to a stranger and say 'Hey, so, get this! There was this Prime Evil intent on destroying the world and now I think there's a piece of it in my arm?'. No, that was a sure fire way to get himself killed, of that he was certain. Then again, maybe death was the answer. It would be far better for him to die then to unleash Decay on the world again, he knew. Unless it was his death that would unleash Decay from his arm? He had no way to know if it even -was- Decay or just a small fragment of the Prime's power, anyways! It was all so very frustrating, to say the least. So much so that his scowl had just driven off a potential customer, he just now noticed! He was vaguely aware that they had spoken to him, but by now the man was walking away in disgust. That's alright, he thought - he preferred the female customers anyways!

He forced a beaming smile on his face as he looked around, made sure his temporary ship sign was in place outside and moved back into his shop to stand against the far wall. The room was spacious, with shelves lining the wall on his left full of what looked to be different coloured oils. There was a padded table in the middle of the room for people to lie down on and a table in the corner with an oil lamp and a box of matches. The room was fairly sparse other then that and not very bright, the windows all had wooden shutters that were only partially open, to keep as much scent as could be inside when Stolatos was operating, likely. They also helped to keep prying eyes away, as someone would have to be above the window just to see in at all. There was a closed door to Stolatos' left that presumably led in to a back room of some sorts, though just what was there would be a mystery to most as he never opened it while people were around. As for the Kiltharr, he was currently in rather light clothes and looked to be entirely unarmed, at least of anything too large to be completely hidden within clothing. He stood quietly, waiting for a new patron to walk in.

Kylar was muttering to himself as he continued starring at the piece of paper clenched in his hand. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going when an armoured glove appeared on his chest, surprising Kylar so much that he jumped back and drew his sword in a single, fluid movement.

“Whoa…” The owner of the gloved hand said, who Kylar quickly noticed was wearing the armour of a city guard. “The shop you’re looking for is just over there. Now my mates and I are off to lunch.” The guard pointed across the street at a rather shabby looking shop with a sign shaped like a ship. An evil grin appeared on his face as he said, “I hope you have fun with your furry playmate.”

Kylar started sputtering in outrage as he tried to think of a way to return the insult, but the guard just turned his back on him and walked away down the street, whistling a merry tune. Kylar started to curse under his breath so loudly that nearby passer-by’s looked at him with an alarmed expression and gave him a wide berth. He didn't even noticed; he was too busy thinking about how much he hated this city with its racial slurs, arrogant nobility and brutal guards. As soon as he finished this one job he would hit the countryside again and look for more honest work, like chasing down bandits or protecting beautiful maidens.

Kylar sighed as he tried to get his emotions under control, but all he could managed to do was stop cursing out loud. His irritation was building to new heights, and he knew he was about to take it out on this poor kiltharr, but the mercenary was beyond caring. He marched across the sheet, his tattered brown cape fluttering out behind him as he drew his sword and pulled his shield off his back. His brown hair was scruffy and in such a mess that it pointed up in any direction, yet his emerald green eyes where narrowed in a look of determination. The crowd melted out of the way of this angry armed man with lots of startled explanations, but Kylar was beyond caring. He simply marched straight up to the door and kicked it in with extreme force. He walked through the doorway, hitting the door once more as it rebounded back at him, this time with his shield, before yelling, “Oi You! Aroma-Fairy-Kitty! It’s about time you left this city for good!”

_________________Kylar, The Mercenary"Your mother was a hamster; and your Father smelt of Elderberries! Now, go away before I am forced to taunt you a second time!

It had been a good day so far. He had had a few good looking clients, especially that last one! Just the memory was enough to get him smiling again. And he certainly had things to smile about, as with his female clients he always made sure to convince them that a massage went well with aromatherapy! Yes, it had certainly been a good day. Perhaps it was time to close up shop for the day and go spend some of his 'hard-earned' coin! The most recently acquired coins jingled in his palm as he shook it, then clenched up tightly as the door suddenly slammed open fully, quite loudly. It banged back and someone caught it on a shield as they entered, barking out quite loudly as he did. “Oi You! Aroma-Fairy-Kitty! It’s about time you left this city for good!” A raised eyebrow was the first response he got, the Kiltharr not even pushing off the wall he had chosen to lean against. This was certainly one of the strangest people he had ever had enter his shop, but that didn't mean he was immediately going to get all worked up about it. Even if the man was demanding that he leave the city.

He took a quick glance at the human, noting the wooden shield and especially the drawn sword. While that certainly made things interesting, as he himself did not appear to be armed in the least, it was not a reason to panic. No, instead he would first go the route of diplomacy - he was after all here rather legally. "Welcome to my humble shop, friend. It's pronounced 'Aromatherapist', and from the look of it you could use some. From the smell of it, too." A toothy grin was flashed towards the man, his predatory fangs visible in the low light for that moment. "And I am a Kiltharr, not a kitty." That one was a lost cause, he knew. He had met far more then enough of these racist types who took one look at him and decided he was inferior - or even worse, a 'simple cat'. His bright blue eyes took in every detail in the slightly darkened room, his eye naturally allowing him to see as if the room was in broad daylight, but it also caused those eyes to shine even more then they usually did. "Stolatos Stormcloud is my name. Who are you, and why is it that you think you can eject me from my home?"

His eyes flashed dangerously now, the false pretense of an easygoing look he had been using dropping away instantly. If there was one thing he cared about in this world, it was a place to call home. And while he had himself never considered this place a permanent home or even much more then simply a place to earn some coin and rest his head at night without fear of someone bashing it in or trying to rob him, it was still his. He wasn't about to leave it until he himself was ready to go, and especially not at the behest of someone so outright smelly! This man didn't even smell like he had bathed in weeks. Stolatos wasn't even certain that the man knew what a bath was. Even through all these thoughts and though his demeanor had changed, he kept on leaning against the back wall as if there wasn't a human trying to accost him in his front entrance way.

Kylar took a few slow steps into the room, ignoring the Kiltharr’s attempts to correct him. He was already extremely irritated, so he cared very little about saying things correctly. He quickly took in his spaciously surroundings, noting the shelves full of different types of oils that would be perfect for throwing and causing a little bit of chaos. There were also two tables in the room, one off against the wall that would be of little concern at the present moment, and one directly in the middle of the room which could prove a useful distraction as he tried to close in on his opponent.

Speaking of which, Kylar snapped his attention back to the Kiltharr, and he noted the easy way he stood without any visible weapons. This meant that he was confident that he could handle the danger of an armed mercenary barging into the room with just his claws and teeth, or he had a concealed weapon that was within easy reach. Still, Kylar wasn’t worried. He was much more than a typical mercenary, even if he didn’t look it, and a challenging fight was just what he needed to vent off some steam.

“Well Stolatos, the name is Kylar.” He said as he moved slowly into the middle of the room, noting how quickly the Kiltharr’s emotions changed from calm to deadly anger. It appeared that Stolatos was quite attached to his temporary home, so he decided to skip straight to the point. “The nobility in this city want you gone, yet they lack the backbone to actually face a Kiltharr and do it themselves. Therefore, I’m kicking you out and claiming an easy pay check.”

With those last words Kylar put on foot against the table in the middle and gave it a strong push. It skidded across the room towards Stolatos with Kylar close behind it, his sword held low but his shield raised in front of him. It was time to find out what kind of special abilities this Aroma therapist had.

_________________Kylar, The Mercenary"Your mother was a hamster; and your Father smelt of Elderberries! Now, go away before I am forced to taunt you a second time!

'Kylar', was it? Interesting that he let loose so much information; it was likely he really was just here for the gold. A common mercenary, being sent to evict him? That was rather odd. He couldn't remember insulting any nobility, unless some of those high class women were married and simply hadn't mentioned it. In that case, he could easily see why they would send someone to get rid of him, but not simply evict him. No, that would likely order a hit on his life, not on his presence. Regardless, it wasn't the time to figure out just what the motivations were behind this attack, as this human didn't seem keen on waiting to talk this out. The table was kicked towards him and he saw the man advancing towards him, so he quickly dropped down to the ground. The table slammed into the wall, and as Kylar was coming forward it left most of Stolatos temporarily out of view. He pressed a small piece of paper lightly to the underside of the table before spinning onto his back and kicking off the wall hard, sending him sliding out fast but at an angle so that he wouldn't simply run into the mercenary's legs.

Just as his momentum started to slow he rolled over his shoulder and was quickly back up to his feet, displaying some of that natural Kiltharr agility he obviously possessed. Even as he rolled, he collected a hidden shuriken from his belt, and as he made his feet and rose up he threw it fast and hard. His aim was true, sending it flying directly towards Kylar's face. At this range, he didn't think the man would be able to dodge it in time and would instead have to bring his shield up to block it from hitting him in the face, which would of course limit his view of Stolatos just about completely this time, which was of course what he was going for. It was usually hard to fight someone when they couldn't see you, he had learned. He also made a mental note to pay the 'nobility' of this city a little visit and show them just why it was a bad idea to piss him off. His right hand, covered entirely in bandages with those weird symbols written all over it, clenched into a fist.

His attention never left Kylar for a moment, even as his thoughts wandered just a bit. He was watching for the rising shield, waiting for the right moment. If the man lost sight of him by raising his shield, he would turn and sprint towards the door on light feet, and if he made it to the door would burst outside and immediately spin to the side, just wanting to get out of sight of this strange human for a moment. He might get weird looks from everyone outside, but that hardly mattered right now.

The table missed, but Kylar wasn’t surprised by this. The table was just meant to get things started, but what he didn’t expect was the shear agility displayed by the Kiltharr. Most people would jump to the side of the table, or if they were naturally agile they would attempt to jump on top of the table. Stolatos decided to do the unexpected, and he dropped to the ground and let the table slid over the top of him. His next move was even more unexpected; he sprang out from under the table and did a flip to get back on his feet. Kylar was impressed, and that was not something that happened often. He was sure if this level of agility was natural to Kiltharr’s or if Stolatos was extra dexterous, but one thing was sure, Kylar would not be underestimating their agility again.

Kylar’s eyes had a little trouble keeping track of everything that the kiltharr did, but he did notice one thing straight away. The snapping motion of Stolatos’ arm meant that he was throwing something small and nasty directly at Kylar’s face, so he did what came naturally. He raised his shield in a sweeping motion and battered away the projectile, which turned out to be a little metal throwing star. He brought his sword up to cover any vulnerability that arose from raising his shield so fast, but nothing came. Instead, Stolatos turned tail and bolted for the back door, bursting through it and diving to the side.

Kyle let out a slight laugh at the Kiltharr’s antics, and he could feel some of his irritation lessoning. Obviously Stolatos could take care of himself, so this should prove to be a challenging fight. Still, He had wasted a perfectly good opportunity just to get out of the room, so Kylar guessed that Stolatos was setting a trap for him within the other room. Kylar was not one to rush in to things, so instead of following he walked over to a wall and sheathed his sword. He grabbed a random vial off the shelves and threw it into the room that Stolatos was now in. It shattered with a pleasant tinkling sound, releasing its noxious contents onto the floor and fulfilling Kylar’s need to break something. The mercenary’s plan was simple, he would keep throwing vials into the room until the combination of smells either overwhelmed Stolatos or the Kiltharr barged back into the room in an attempt to protect his belongings. All this time he kept his shield held at the ready, just in case Stolatos had a few more tricks hidden up those bandages of his arm.

_________________Kylar, The Mercenary"Your mother was a hamster; and your Father smelt of Elderberries! Now, go away before I am forced to taunt you a second time!

Stolatos heard a laugh and no hurried footsteps, so he didn't think the man was following him. That suspicion was confirmed when a vial shattered on the floor in the room. His eyebrows raised slightly as he shifted away from the door and towards the dresser in the room. He kept his eyes on the door as he quietly strapped his katars to his arms and then pulled an overcoat on to cover his arms. He sniffed, smelling the wafting aroma of strawberries. At least the man hasn't picked an expensive vial, at leat not yet. He assumed more were going to be coming, as Kylat still wasn't in the room with him. This was turning into one of the more odd fights he had been in. He moved to the window out of sight of the door and pushed it open, the sudden light flooding into the room making it much brighter, as well as making a scraping noise as the wooden shutters creaked open fully. He briefly considered just leaving, but decided against it. There was still too much money in supplies to leave here without selling it.

He thought the window opening might draw Kylar in, but it would also let the smell waft out of the room. So before too much could go he activated the seal he had placed in the previous room, his form vanishing instantly only to reappear silently underneath the table in the first room [Kitty Teleport]. He stayed perfectly still, knowing that movement might attract Kylar's attention before he wanted it. So for now he just waited, able to see Kylar below his knees while his own dark clothing and fur kept him rather hard to spot in the remaining darkness of this room, especially since the other room being brighter should steal some of the human's dark sight, if he remembered how their eyes worked correctly anyways. He too could play the waiting game, as long as the man just kept throwing vials. He was waiting for something to change now so that he could sneaky his way in and get in a good hit from behind. Perhaps not very honourable, but neither was trying to evict someone!

Kylar lobed a few more vials into the next room, imagining just what the combined fumes would smell like. A bit of the scent had started writhing into this room, filling Kylar’s nostrils with the scent of strawberries mixed with coconut and lavender, yet still Stolatos did not re-enter the room. Kylar was a bit disappointed, but he remained suspicious and vigilant. It would be too easy for Stolatos to just slip out a back door and sneak around the front, so Kylar continuously scanned the room looking for the slightest movement to alert him to foul play.

So far this fight was turning out well, but he had yet to see any of those ‘Special’ abilities that he had been warned about. Perhaps the mayor was simply referring to the Kiltharr’s amazing agility, but somehow that did not seem worth such an ominous warning. Stolatos was most probably hiding something, just waiting for the right moment to unleash it on an unsuspecting foe. Whatever it was, Kylar could take it. There were few people in this whole city that could take a beating like he could. The tricky part was returning the force in kind, or at least enough of the force to rout his foe.

After finishing that row of vials, Kylar decided that it was time to get on with his job. He figured that if Stolatos had no shop left to return too then he would be much easier to evict. So with that in mind, Kylar walked across the room to the second table that was fit smugly into the corner of the room. While still watching the room and looking for movement, Kylar used his one free hand to casually light the oil lamp that was left conveniently beside some matches. Once the flame was going bright and strong he flung the lamp into the second room, watching as at least some of the scents that were mixed on the floor turned out to be combustible causing a wave of flames to spread swiftly across the liquid. The fire spread in the back room quickly and would hopefully drive the Kiltharr out of hiding yet still give Kylar enough room to persuade him to leave town before the whole building caught aflame.

_________________Kylar, The Mercenary"Your mother was a hamster; and your Father smelt of Elderberries! Now, go away before I am forced to taunt you a second time!